Humor In Uncle Tom's Cabin By Harriet Beacher Stowe

Humor is an important part of human psychology because it presents information with a light atmosphere and an easy to understand way. Humor also conveys information that is inappropriate to state directly. Because humor has the quality to convey information to a broad audience, the makers of humor, or humorists, are therefore a vital part of society and the key to social progress. Humorists make social progress by conveying criticism through humorous works, by making specialized information easier accessible to the public, and by causing viewers of the works to reflect on their own weaknesses. One of the most important functions of humorists is the ability to criticize society’s weaknesses without the fear of controversy or persecution. An example would be political cartoonist Thomas Nast. Nast worked as a
magazine editor in New York City during the reconstruction period. He was deeply concerned with the problem of corruption in the city government, especially the mayor. Knowing that directly denouncing the government would only stir controversy, he took a different approach: drawing political satires of the mayor. The satirical depictions of the mayor and the city government caught the attention of many people who read his magazine, who later lobbied for an investigation of the mayor. Eventually, the mayor was found guilty of corruption and was imprisoned. Nast’s works demonstrated the crimes of the mayor humorously yet indirectly, which avoided widespread controversy and helped to bring the mayor to justice. His works showed that the works of humorists often have the power to criticize and change society, therefore proving that humorists are a vital part of society. Humorists can not only criticize social weaknesses, but they can also make information in a specialized field be available to the public due to their ability to appeal to a wide audience. This was evident in George Orwell’s allegory Animal Farm. In the allegorical tale, Orwell connected the history of the Soviet Union with a children’s story of animals on a farm. The story carefully alluded different conflicts on the farm to key events in Soviet history, such as the October Revolution and World War II. Because the story depicted the history of the Soviet Union in an interesting yet accurate way, the story was immediately a success among both the readers and the critics. Orwell certainly compiled a long and confusing subject, the history of Soviet Union, into an easy to understand tale, serving the humorist’s vital function of conveying specialized information to the public. Besides criticizing the evils of society and making complex information easier to understand, humorists serve one final function: the ability to cause readers to reflect their own weaknesses.
The book Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beacher Stowe illustrated this function of humorists. Stowe depicted a fictional slave family in the south in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The book not only demonstrated the exploitation of slaves by slave owners, but it also emphasized upon the neglect of the bystanders to slavery. Thus, the book convinced many people reflect on their views on slavery, eventually changing many minds to go against slavery. Stowe’s writing therefore show that humorists can have the power to convince people to reflect upon their ignorance and choose the path of justice, which is a necessary part behind social change. Humorists’ work not only consists of entertaining information, but their works can also convey criticism, explain information, and urge reflection. These aspects are exactly the driving force behind the improvement of society. Because works of humorists have the quality to change society for the better, they are certainly a vital part of
society.